Clothing and Society

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Oh Divine Dietrich!!!! Marlene really was the best! She gave you sex, class, adventure, and the exotic!!! From the Blue Angel, A Foreign Affair, the Scarlett Empress, to Witness for the Prosecution. She was true star making smash hits in music and film as well as creating waves in fashion. There are many great stars, but only a few are true cultural icons and Dietrich is at the top of the list. She was performing on stage well into her 60's clothed in nude sequined evening gowns and floor length ermine capes. Like a true star when be beauty really began to fade, she withdrew from public life. Her last film was "Just A Gigolo(1978)," she was on screen for less than 10 mins and recieved more than $2,000,000.00 for the appearance. After that she was never seen on camera again. When on rare occasion she did grant an interview, she would be seated behind a screen or wearing a veil so that no one should see her lost beauty. In the attitude of a truely great star even reminiscint of Garbo, she said;"Life's greatest hardship is that it offers us a taste of youth and vitality, and then makes us witness out own decay."

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I'm so tired of all the Twilight hype!!!! I finally saw the first film and was bored out of my mind!!!!! Vampires have been done better in both book and film!!!! For all you Twilight kids who think you've discovered vampires, think again!!!! The myth of the blood sucking immortal first reached mainstream world culture in 1897 via author Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The book is a wonderful piece of Gothic literature that I would recommend to anyone in the mood for something well written and more adventurous in theme compared to most English Literature of the period; its generally considered the "Bible" when it comes to the vampire myth. Second, Vampires first came to film in the 1922 silent "Nosferatu." I would have to say that the Dracula like character of Nosferatu is by far the most frightening vampire ever to grace the silver screen!!!!

Finally, when it comes to "sexy vampires" Catherine Deneuve is the final word. Not only is she a better looking woman than Robert Pattinson is a man, but she's a better actress as well as a screen and fashion icon!!!!! 1983's "the Hunger" is a far more erotic and artistic look at the vampire myth that is superior in acting, direction, plot, and COSTUMING!!!!!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The other day I had a conversation with a friend that greatly disturbed me. This friend is the same age as me and said they had no real political views simply because they felt disenfranchised from the US Government. I think that most young people feel unimportant and without power when it comes to their government, and because of this they sit back and ignore it. We can’t ignore our government!!!! I do agree that quite a few of the people in power have forgotten who they work for and only push their own agendas, but they still work for us! A few days after this conversation I accidentally came across a copy of the US Constitution, and while yes I had read it before and knew the basics of it, I re-read the preamble and its importance hit me. “We the people…,” well who are the people? I’m the people and you’re the people, and our government was instituted to work for us and by us. It doesn’t matter how much money or influence you have, you’re part of “we the people” and you have power. Don’t sit back and feel unimportant, get up a scream and yell if you don’t like what they’re doing to your government! I must admit that I too have in the past few months thought of politics as both helpless and upsetting, and in so doing I let the world pass me by. Never again will I let this happen, and a word of warning to those in power, WATCH OUT!!!! Because I’m going to be watching, watching like a hawk because you work for the people not yourselves!!!!!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Today I needed to cry, so I spent my afternoon watching Bette Davis films. She was the most magnificent actress of the 20th century, in my opinion. She had such amazing presence and an almost divine way of showing emotion. Today some say her acting was over the top and not realistic but as Bette said herself, "If you want reality, talk to the green grocer." Her movies always end with the most amazing lines that are so larger than life and memorable that just to see the ending of one of her movies is enough to make a skeptic a permanent fan. Who could ever forget, "Don't ask for the moon, we have the stars."; "A woman is only beautiful when she's loved."; "That's our victory, our victory over the dark."; "I'll get you, even If I have to crawl back from my grave to do it." So many amazing performances all larger than life. Who wants reality when as Miss Davis said, "Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life."

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Sophia is still a goddess and she's in her 70's!! Here she is in Arabesque wearing Christian Dior by Marc Bohan and Cartier earrings. "Arabesque" starring Gregory Peck and Loren is a fantastic 60's thriller about Arab oil magnates in London. The entire film is made automatically perfect by Ms. Loren in her beautiful 60's Dior ensembles.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I found this photo in an old article about BVLGARI from a 1978 Italian Vogue. I always thought Ingrid Bergman to be one of the most beautiful faces to ever grace the silver screen and if you take that and add some BVLGARI diamonds you have something magical. Bergman has always been one of my favorite actresses because she was an amazing beauty who actually knew how to ACT. Not only was she a great actress and beauty but she showed the world that you can be beautiful at any age. She had continued success after her glamour days had ended and showed that older women could be beautiful and desirable. At 50 she starred in "The Yellow Rolls Royce(1964)" as a wealthy older woman who helps fight fascism and captures the heart of the very young Omar Sharif(Pre Dr. Zhivago), showing that true glamour never fades! In my opinion Ingrid Bergman is one of the only actresses who should be considered both a beautiful sex symbol and an amazing actress; she won THREE OSCARS to prove it! But on top of it all she transcended age, genre, and type casting to be become a true legend proving you could grow old yet remain forever beautiful.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Most children dream of being rich and famous. I don't! I just want to be left to myself and encrusted in jewels. A love of all those glistening stones in leather and velvet boxes has been instilled in me since early childhood. Most people think of jewelry as some sort of status symbol but to me its simply fascination. When I stare at a cascade of diamonds I go weak at the knees and when someone ask's me my favorite color I always say "D." So when I get old, I wan't to be like Mrs. Havisham or Norma Desmond, left alone to live in the past while dripping in jewels.